Caring For an Inmate Dallas county jail is a 6,500 bed facility located near downtown Dallas, Texas. This county jail houses inmates for crimes such as criminal trespassing to capitol murder. Within this population you’ll find that most of the individuals are in need of some kind of medical and mental health attention. This care ranges from chronic care diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and seizures, to more complex diseases like sickle cell. You also encounter inmates that have acute medical concerns as well such as altercations between inmates, slips and falls, and self-harm. Although, the inmates are jailed for crimes, there is still a medical need and requirement that has to be met regarding this population. Although a daunting one, The medical team is dedicated to providing quality health care for these patients. Inmates who test positive for pregnancy are referred to an obstetrician staffed at the jail. These females are followed throughout their stay at Dallas county jail. They are given prenatal vitamins and seen at the appropriate intervals guided by ACOG guidelines. Those pregnant inmates that are high risk are referred to Parkland Hospital’s Ob complications department and are followed for high risk pregnancy. Third trimester inmates are watched closely and educated on stages of labor. Although, it is not ideal for babies to be born at Dallas county jail, there are times when babies will be delivered at the jail. For these instances preparation is made, a birthing kit and qualified nursing staff are available to ensure a safe From chronic health problems, emergencies, to pregnant inmates, Dallas County Jail is equipped to care for any health condition, a lot of times providing better health care than what the inmates would receive outside of jail. The process is organized and leaves little room for error. This population could easily be overlooked, but by implementing an effective process, the inmates at Dallas County jail are able to receive quality medical care while there and be equipped with resources and education to continue their care when
Today, prisons are the nation’s primary providers of mental health care, and some do a better job than others. Pete Earley focuses his research on the justice system in Miami, Florida. He documents how the city’s largest prison has only one goal for their mentally ill prisoners: that they do not kill themselves. The prison has no specialized
...sist either an inmate or a fellow jailer when they need help. Safety is a priority. Psychiatrists are there to diagnose and treat the inmates as best as possible. They are a big part of the facility. Furthermore, there are politics in this jail just like any other jail. Not every unit or floor has politics, but if the floor or unit does, then inmates have to follow it or they will get beat up by the rest of the inmates. Inmates like homosexuals and child molesters get special housing because the system knows that if they are left with the general population of inmates then they will be vulnerable. Last but not least, the cylinder type design of the jail is very convenient to keep a look at all the inmates from the control room. The objective is took be able to have an eye on all inmates all the time; therefore, achieving control and safety over the facility.
I chose to analyze a report made against a county jail being that many correctional facilities lack the adequate resources to care for detainees needing mental health treatment. The allegations made against Henry County Jail was that a detainee's mental health needs were not met and they were required to pay a copay to see a physician, nurse, or access their prescribed medications. Another allegation was that the detainee and fellow inmates on suicide watch were placed in unstable conditions. The complaint stated that the detainee was placed in a cell with two other individuals who were also on suicide watch and were denied medications. It also explained that these detainees were required to sleep on a concrete floor for three months being
This case study focuses on a scenario describing the experience of Leon Smith, a fictional rookie correctional officer (CO) in a large jail in a Midwestern industrial city. Smith observed that the inmates in the jail were always talking about their criminal successes, and that many of them seemed eager (in a surreptitious way) to share intelligence information with CO’s. Rookie Smith was excited by the possibility of collecting intelligence in the jail and passing this on to law enforcement. Smith had ambitions of one day working in homicide investigations, and thought that sharing intelligence from the jail would both further his ambition, as well as a noble goal of helping law enforcement apprehend criminals and perhaps even terrorists. Smith became disillusioned, however, as he began to observe that his fellow COs were well aware of the ready availability of the information, but were not interested in much of what occurred outside of their immediate work sphere. In fact, they seemed more interested in their own particular shift or what went on inside of the jail. Smith learned more about his peers when speaking with his Shift Sergeant Griswold, who expressed the point of view that all inmates are liars. Griswold also stated that CO’s are not cops and that law enforcement would not want to hear from them, even if it was useful information. Griswold stressed this point by saying his Lieutenant would say the same thing if he brought intelligence to him. This scenario provides examples of barriers to communication, the strength of informal organizational socialization, a possible good application of linking pins to share information across work units, and opportunity to improve communication . Each will be discuss...
Roger is at the Sage County Jail after being arrested the previous night for a minor offense. This has become a problem throughout the past Roger has been several times before. Roger has a past history of involving involuntary commitment on mental health issues. He told the jail staff that he commits crime to get sent to jail for a warm place to sleep, for a meal, and to get his meds. He is homeless and has no medical insurance or regular health care provider. Roger occasionally gets into fights with other jail inmates, has threatened suicide, and yells at the custody staff. Because of the minor nature of the crime, Roger will likely be released in 24 hours. Rogers meds are very expensive for the jail officials it costs the jail $200 per day to house Roger. So
...rgens, R. Stöver, H. Nikogosian, H. (2007) Health in Prisons: A WHO Guide to the Essentials in Prison Health. WHO Regional Office Europe.
Prisoner security categories are used as an assessment system to assign convicts to a category that is appropriate for their crime and/or for the safety of the public. There are four categories, each with their own criteria. The category a prisoner falls under depends on the nature of their crimes along with the potential danger to the community if they were to abscond from the prison . A convict’s category will be assessed once they first enter prison, the assessors within the prison service will consider the inmates likelihood of inflicting harm upon themselves or others. These categories are for prisoners who have been deemed mentally or physically able. These categories fall in to one of two prison types; open or closed prisons. Open prisons are institutions where prisoners have more freedoms and are able to move freely around their settings, prisoners will only be placed in Open Prisons if staff considers them as trustworthy. Lastly, closed prisons are considerably more secure and inmates must follow a strict schedule.
Thousands of people statewide are in prisons, all for different reasons. However, the amount of mental illness within prisons seems to go unaddressed and ignored throughout the country. This is a serious problem, and the therapy/rehabilitation that prison systems have do not always help those who are mentally ill. Prison involvement itself can contribute to increased suicide (Hills, Holly). One ‘therapy’ that has increased throughout the years has been the use of solitary confinement, which has many negative effects on the inmates. When an inmate has a current mental illness, prior to entering into the prison, and it goes undiagnosed and untreated, the illness can just be worsened and aggravated.
A huge factor in the prevalence of mental health problems in United States prison and jail inmates is believed to be due to the policy of deinstitutionalization. Many of the mentally ill were treated in publicly funded hospitals up until the 1960’s. Due to budget cuts and underfunding of community mental health services we ...
Pregnant and Imprisoned in the United States. (2000). Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care, 27(4), 266-
The United States has the largest population of female prisoners. Roughly four to seven percent of women enter prison pregnant each year. Some of these women don’t know that they are pregnant until two weeks after their incarceration when they are forced to have a mandatory health evaluation, i...
integrated public health, education, and social service resource for pregnant inmates and prison mothers. Californian Journal of Health Promotion, 2, 34-48. Retrieved from
Interventions Used: Psychiatric assessment, nursing assessments, medication compliance monitoring, individual counseling/case management, ETOs, Recreation, & MH Group activities. Patient’s Response to Treatment: According to Multidisciplinary Treatment Staff, the inmate has not attained his treatment goals. Treatment team reported inmate has been a smearing feces, eating feces, dinking from the toilet, and urinating on self. He is experiencing bizarre behaviors such as pacing, bizarre affect and restlessness. Multidisciplinary team recommended that the inmate would be released or EOS to a Baker Act facility (Meridian Health in Alachua) due to dysfunctional behavior, self-harm, and intermittent willing to continue medication management. His symptoms of delusions and hallucination were significantly increased from 2/7 to a frequency of 5 out of 7. His bizarre behavior appeared to increase, and he has shown an increased in symptoms of
Today, I would like to discuss evidence-based treatment programs in prison and community corrections. With this in mind, when discussing treatment programs within the prison system it’s very critical. In fact, it has been a very important part of the prison life since initiation. Seiter (2012) explains the importance of giving the inmates an opportunity to participate in programs to help them once they are released back into the community. However, when it comes to custody and treatment in prisons they actually work hand in hand. The programs that are provided in prison help in developing self-control and encourage good behavior in inmates. For example, initiating these programs help inmates reduce idleness, teach them how to live and
The research study is to describe how there are more African Americans in prison than any other race Whether it is African American men or women in the prison African Americans are still the leading race inside the prison system. Based upon the research I was setting out to prove that African Americans were the leading race in the prison systems, but sometimes people don’t always understand why or how some people economic status and education can play a hug part on where the direction of their lives take them. The main in this study was to determine if African Americans are the leading race in the prison system. So I set out to find out if “there are more African Americans from ages eighteen thru thirty are in prison at a greater percentage than White or Hispanics”. Imprisonment was and still is a form of criminal punishment that became well known in the United States after the American Revolution.